Pawns of the Gods
by KatieScarlet
Summary: The ultimate fate of Imhotep, Anck-su-Namun, Seti and Ardeth Bay. A sequel to my fic 'To Begin Again '. Status: Finished!
1. Return of the King

By Katie Sullivan

Pawns of the Gods

Chapter One: The Return of the King

Mummy fanfic by Katie Sullivan

  
This will make a whole lot more sense if you read "To Begin Again" first.  
Rated PG for a small amount of violence, language and innuendo  
Standard Disclaimer: I don't own the Mummy, or any of its characters I'm not making money off it, this is just fanfic, blah blah blah. Jendayi, Abasi Bay and Hassim are my characters. Please ask before using them.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Anck-su-Namun squinted in concentration as she dabbed paint on the wall. For the past year she had painstakingly restored the mural in the east corridor of the temple of Osiris. She was working from memory, of course, and was no great artist, but aided by the worn stone carvings she was able to make a reasonably accurate reproduction.

Four-year-old Jendayi sat on the floor nearby, content with her set of finger-paints and a stack of scratch paper. It hadn't been easy convincing her that painting on the walls was only for grown-ups, and only in certain places.

The tell-tale sound of many footsteps, rustling brochures and cameras clicking warned Anck-su-Namun that a tour group was approaching, and she glanced at her watch. Had it been a half hour already? Sighing, she nudged Jendayi and her paints off to the side.

A group of twenty-odd tourists soon arrived, led by a young man named Hassim. Anck-su-Namun liked him, since he showed enthusiastic interest in the history of the temple and, more importantly, didn't laugh in her face when she told him she and her husband were reincarnated Ancient Egyptians.

"...and here is Mrs. Abd Osiris, working to restore one of our murals," Hassim said, gesturing at her as the tour passed by.

She smiled a little for the cameras of four trigger-happy Japanese tourists.

"Moving on, you'll see on your right a statue of Pharaoh Ramses I..." Hassim continued, leading the group along.

Anck-su-Namun watched them go out of the corner of her eye as she cleaned one of her brushes in a cup of murky water. Suddenly, she caught a glimpse of a familiar face. Her blood turned to ice.

"Oh my gods," she whispered.

The man turned back as if sensing her staring. Hassim continued his spiel about the statues, not noticing the departure of one member of his audience.

Anck-su-Namun couldn't move. She just stared. The man approached her slowly, concentrating on her features with the look of someone trying very hard to remember something. "Do I know you?" he asked.

She opened her mouth to answer, her lips trembling. "I..." was all she could say.

"You look very familiar... All this looks familiar, as a matter of fact..."

She hugged Jendayi protectively to her side. Not understanding why, the girl squirmed a little. "I...don't believe we've met," she stammered.

"What's your name?"

"Subira. Subira Abd Osiris," she said, only partially lying. She had changed her name legally to Anck-su-Namun, but Subira, her original name in this life, remained her middle name. The last name she and Imhotep had chosen meant "servant of Osiris."

There was no recognition on the visitor's face. "Ah. I see. My name is Seth King."

Her eyes bugged out of her head. "Excuse me," she said in a strangled voice. Picking up Jendayi, she ran off down the corridor, leaving the man to stand in confusion for a moment before hurrying to catch up with his tour group.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Good heavens, darling, what's the matter?" Imhotep asked in alarm as his wife burst into his office, looking pale and frightened. She transferred Jendayi to his arms and tightly closed the door behind her. "You look as if you've seen a ghost!" he said as she caught her breath.

Anck-su-Namun clung to his arm, trembling. "He's here."

"Who? Who's here?"

Still gasping for air, she elaborated. "Seti."

"**What**?" He set an impatient Jendayi on the floor, and she wandered over to his desk to make a paperclip chain.

Panting, she tried to explain. "A man...in one of the tour groups...said I looked familiar. Name's Seth King! It's him, Imhotep! I recognize him!"

"Did he recognize you?" he asked, lowering her into a chair.

"Not entirely, no. I don't think the memories of his past life have been unlocked completely yet. But now that he's here, in this temple... Being here and seeing each other made you and I remember. What if it does the same for him?"

He embraced her. "Don't worry, my love. I won't let him hurt you. I swear it. Never again."

She nodded and hugged him tighter.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Hassim?"

The young guide turned at the sound of his boss' voice and quickly excused himself from answering post-tour questions. His English was a bit rusty anyway, and the British tourists were drilling him with questions. "Yessir?" Imhotep drew him over to a corner of the entranceway, away from the departing tourists.

"Hassim, this is going to sound odd--" Imhotep began.

"Frankly, sir, I'm used to odd things coming from you and your wife. No offense. I mean, when you two knew right where to excavate for that subterranean storage chamber I was sort of creeped out, if you don't mind my saying so. And then when you knew how open the lock on that one cupboard--"

Imhotep shushed him. Hassim liked to talk, a quality that made him a great tour guide but a difficult conversationalist in a crisis. "Yes, yes. Just tell me...did a man on the tour today ask or say anything that would lead you to believe he had been here before?"

"Before as in last week or before as in, when you guys lived here, once upon a time?"

"**Before** before."

"Ah. Gotcha. Looking up an old acquaintance?"

"You could say that." Imhotep's grave expression finally made Hassim get serious.

"Well, I'm not sure about any reincarnation business, but I did notice that guy with the little beard paid an awful lot of attention to everything. Little dinky details that tourists don't usually care about."

"Where is he?"

Hassim pointed toward the admissions booth, where a man in khakis and a dark T-shirt was studying a column of hieroglyphics with intense interest.

Imhotep's breath caught in his throat. Even from this distance, even from behind, even after all this time--there was no mistaking Pharaoh Seti I.

"Get him out of here," he hissed to Hassim.

"But--"

"Just get rid of him!"

Hassim didn't see his boss angry often, but he knew enough not to irk him further when he was. "Yessir." Imhotep drew back into the shadow of a carved pillar as his employee walked over to Seti. "Excuse me sir, I'm going to have to ask you to leave," he heard Hassim say.

"Why?" Seti said with that same imperious authority that he always had possessed. Imhotep winced. No doubt whatsoever about his identity.

"Uh..." Hassim faltered. "We're closing for the day."

"It's only one o'clock! There's another tour in ten minutes, according to the sign!" he protested.

"Er..." Flustered, the guide turned back toward Imhotep in search of a better excuse. Unfortunately, Seti followed his gaze. Imhotep stood helplessly as sudden recognition swept over the man's face. He could actually see it happening, all the memories rushing back.

"You," Seti said, uttering the syllable like a curse.

No point in denying it. Drawing himself up to his full height, Imhotep strode forward to face his greatest enemy.

"Imhotep," Seti said, narrowing his eyes in hatred.

"You two know each other?" Hassim asked.

"Oh, yes," Seti said with a short laugh of irony. "He stole my woman and killed me--with my own sword!"

Hassim looked understandably confused.

"She was never yours," Imhotep said vehemently, "you lascivious, woman-beating bastard! You're a disgrace to the double crown! Now get out of my temple before--"

"Before what? Before you kill me again?" Seti sneered.

Hassim began inching away. "Uh, sir, what I was saying before about being used to odd things around here? I take it back. This is too weird even for me."

Imhotep spoke to the guide but never broke eye contact with Seti. "Hassim, meet Pharaoh Seti the First."

Hassim blinked. "Uh...okay..."

Not breaking eye contact, either, Seti said, "Indeed. I remember it all now. For the past forty-six years I've been plagued by dreams, visions, deja vu...and now I realize why. I **am** Seti the First. Pharaoh of Upper and Lower Egypt! Horus Rising, the Great House, ruler of all--"

*WHAM!*

A foot and fist simultaneously slammed into him, knocking his feet out from under him and stunning him into silence. Imhotep gave a crooked smirk to his wife. "I was getting to that. And what happened to being frightened out of your wits?"

Poised on the balls of her feet, Anck-su-Namun scowled down at the groggy former Pharaoh. "I wasn't about to let you stand up to him alone. We had to face him together...just like last time."

"Mommy, who's that man you just kicked?" Jendayi's small voice came from behind.

"I'll tell you when you're older, honey," Anck-su-Namun said quickly. It was a phrase she found herself using often. "And I thought I told you to stay in Daddy's office!"

"But--"

Seti managed to stand up again, shaking stars from his eyes. "Anck-soon-yamun," he said with malice.

"That's Anck-su-Namun, Your Majesty!" she said, punching him squarely in the face to punctuate the last word. He slumped back to the floor. "Old bastard never could pronounce my name right," she muttered.

Hassim was leaning on a wall, looking disoriented. "Uh...can I have the afternoon off? I need to go lie down, I think..."

"Certainly," Imhotep said, hoisting Jendayi to his shoulder. "Let's get out of here before he wakes up." Hassim hurried unsteadily toward the parking lot.

Anck-su-Namun briefly looked down at the unconscious Seti, as if contemplating doing him further harm.

Reading her mind, Imhotep put a hand on her arm. "Once is enough, my love. Think of the consequences."

She sighed. "You're right. I wish you weren't, but you're right."

"Besides, **I** promised to protect **you**, remember? If you have all the fun, how does that make **me **look?" he teased.

She grinned. "Well..."

Seti groaned as if waking up. Imhotep promptly kicked him in the head.

Anck-su-Namun raised an eyebrow. "Feel better now?"

"Yes, actually."

"Good. Then let's get out of here."

"Can I kick him, too?" Jendayi asked.

"No, honey."

"Aaw...grown-ups have all the fun," she whined as her father carried her toward the car.


	2. Past and Future Meet

Pawns of the Gods

Chapter Two: Past and Future Meet

Mummy Fanfic by Katie Sullivan

The ancient Egyptians believed that a truly wise and great man would live to the perfect age of one hundred and ten. Ardeth Bay hardly considered himself to be in the same category as the ancient sages, but in just a few years he'd reach that milestone. He was stooped and frail-looking, but able to walk with the aid of a wood staff and every bit as quick-witted as he had been the first time the Creature had awakened. The undisputed leader of the Med-Jai, he hoped to live out his days in peace in the desert he so loved.

Fate had one more trick up her sleeve, however. Ardeth's favorite grandson, also a Med-Jai chieftain, made the traditional gesture of greeting as he stepped into the patriarch's tent. "Grandfather."

"Abasi," Ardeth greeted with a smile. Abasi's name meant "stern," and he was, when the situation warranted. Judging by his dark expression, apparently today it warranted it. "What brings you here with such a somber expression, my son?"

Abasi knelt on the Persian carpet, his black eyes shining in the little sunlight that filtered through the canvas tent. "Grandfather, this message just arrived from Hassim bin Avrahim." He produced a tiny silver scroll from within his black robe. Ardeth reluctantly put on his glasses--he hated wearing them--and squinted at the tiny but neat Arabic script. Hassim was always sending status reports by courier falcon. Most of his missives were trivial in content but let the Med-Jai know that the Creature was behaving himself, as he had since the Med-Jai learned of his reincarnation by noticing Jendayi's birth announcement in the Luxor newspaper. Abasi's demeanor told Ardeth this message was different.

His lips moved silently as he read the message, framed by the white bristles of his beard. "Comrades in arms...I scarcely know where to begin. A tourist arrived at the Temple today and seemed to know too much. When he saw He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named, his memories were unlocked of his past life...his past life as our Pharaoh Seti I. The Creature and his wife confronted him, insulted him and knocked him unconscious. I fled and immediately sent you this message. Please advise."

Ardeth looked up from the tiny paper, refocusing with some effort on his grandson.

"Is Hassim to be believed?" Abasi asked quietly.

"He may be young and overzealous, but I have no reason to doubt his word," the patriarch said. "We must look into this further." Ardeth stood, leaning on his thick wooden staff for leverage. 

"But Grandfather--"

He held up a weathered hand and stopped Abasi with a glare from eyes whose fire burned no less hotly for being surrounded by wrinkles. "I am going, Abasi. There will be no argument. If our people's mission did not indeed end at Ahm Shere, we must know. I must know."

Abasi bowed his head and left the tent to make the necessary preparations.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Anck-su-Namun (Mrs. Abd Osiris to her neighbors) laid in a hammock on the balcony of their apartment, watching as Imhotep attempted once again to teach the ancient game of senet to Jendayi. She was too young to gain any real skill, but she delighted in playing with the homemade game board. The late evening sun cast an orange glow across the table, gleaming off Imhotep's smooth head and giving Anck-su-Namun's white linen dress a ruddy tinge. He would occasionally glance at his wife, or she at him, with an apprehensive look. 

They still hadn't decided what to do about that afternoon's disturbing encounter. They were trying to remain calm to avoid upsetting Jendayi, but they both knew they had not seen the last of their eternal enemy.

At last Imhotep checked the sundial mounted on the balcony's railing. "Time for bed, Jendayi." She inhaled from her toes in preparation for a loud protest, but he put a finger on her lips. "Now."

She used the breath for a sigh instead. "Yes, Daddy."

"We'll play again tomorrow."

"Promise?"

"I promise," he said, affectionately ruffling her black hair. "Now go brush your teeth."

"Okay, Daddy." She disappeared into the apartment.

Imhotep stood for a few seconds, contemplating the sunset. In the privacy of their own home they both preferred to dress in the ancient Egyptian style, and tonight he wore the familiar black-and-gold robe. The trim shone faintly in the rays of the fading sun.

"Well?" Anck-su-Namun said finally.

He shook his head. "Well... So far, so good."

"Seti hasn't tracked us down here, you mean."

He nodded and sat down on the hammock, tipping it at such an angle that she nearly fell out. He hastened to both save her from falling and to embrace her comfortingly. "Don't worry, my Anck-su-Namun. Our love has lasted longer than the temples of our gods. We'll get through this, too." It was a phrase he dug out whenever he was feeling romantic, and she allowed herself to believe him, at least for the moment. He caught her lips in a deep kiss that would have made her knees buckle, had she been standing. Amazing, she mused, that after all this time he still had that effect on her.

The doorbell rang.

She made a disgusted noise at the interruption, and he carefully extracted himself from her limbs and the hammock. "Stay here."

She gave a derisive sniff. "I think not! You don't know who that is."

"Avon?"

"Doubtful."

He was about to protest again, but she stalked past him on her way to the front door, and he had no choice but to follow without delay. Anck-su-Namun grabbed a pair of golden tridents from the wall mount in the hallway. Most of the time they were decoration, but they were still quite serviceable if the need arose.

Imhotep nudged past her and opened the door a crack. It was Hassim. He exhaled in relief and opened the door the rest of the way. "Hassim! What are you doing here?"

The young tour guide stood in the dark hallway, looking much more serious than they had ever seen him. "Imhotep, there's something outside you need to see."

"What?"

"It's hard to explain."

Imhotep caught Anck-su-Namun's eye, and she brought her thin eyebrows together suspiciously. He gave a barely perceptible shrug, and she pursed her lips before nodding.

"Stay with Jendayi," he said quietly, brushing his lips against hers.

"Be careful," she whispered, inconspicuously slipping one of her tridents into his hand. Just as inconspicuously, he dropped the weapon into the deep pocket of his ancient-style robe. If Hassim noticed, he gave no indication.

Imhotep stepped into the shadowy hallway in a manner that a stranger would perceive as casual. Anck-su-Namun, however, knew him and his body language so well that she could sense how on edge he was. He was ready for anything. Somehow, that failed to comfort her. By unspoken agreement, she locked and bolted the door.

"Mommy? Who was that?" Jendayi stood at the bathroom door in her yellow nightgown, her chin still wet from brushing her teeth.

"Just Hassim, honey," Anck-su-Namun said with more calmness than she felt. "Time for bed, now."

"Will you tell me a story? About the gods, or the pyramids, or the Pharaohs, or--"

"Not tonight, Jendayi," she said hastily. "But if you're a good girl and go straight to sleep, I promise I'll tell you two stories tomorrow night."

"Well...okay."

Jendayi was a little bewildered by the high-speed tucking in she received, but Anck-su-Namun didn't stick around long enough to answer any questions. She simply closed the door to her bedroom tightly and scurried off down the hallway, leaving Jendayi alone with her dolls. The girl insisted on having a nightlight, even after her mother explained that the scariest thing lurking in the shadows was her own father. She didn't quite appreciate the irony of that, of course.

Anck-su-Namun's heart was pounding in her chest like an independently living thing, urging her to hurry. Still clutching a single gold trident, she practically ran to the balcony. Then she heard her beloved's voice from the street below, loud in alarm. "What are you doing here?"

She ran to the railing and leaned forward to see what was happening in the street below. Imhotep was facing six men in black robes. One of the strangers was ancient, a hundred if he was a day, and leaned on a wooden staff. But they weren't really strangers. Even from her second-story perch she recognized the distinctive facial tattoos of the Med-Jai. The breath froze in her chest. No. Not again! Not this time!

"So it is you," the ancient one said with contempt, still regarding her husband.

"What do you want?" Imhotep asked with growing anger. "Haven't you harassed me through enough lifetimes?"

"You are the cursed one. My people are sworn to protect the world from your evil forever."

Anck-su-Namun turned and dashed for the door. She wasn't about to let her beloved face this danger alone. Never again.


	3. Crossing the Line

Pawns of the GodsChapter 3

Pawns of the Gods  
Chapter 3: Crossing the Line

Mummy fanfic by Katie Sullivan**  
**

Anck-su-Namun's black hair streamed behind her as she ran, her feet pounding down the crumbling staircase. She took the steps three at the time. As she emerged onto the street, she heard Imhotep saying, "...no danger now, I assure you." He turned at her approach and looked as if he wasn't sure if he should be glad or worried that she had come to help. Hassim was nowhere to be seen.

Now face-to-face with the old man, Anck-su-Namun recognized him through the decades. "Ardeth Bay."

He nodded curtly. "Anck-su-Namun. So it is true. You are both alive again in this time and place."

"Indeed we are, and we intend to stay that way!"

"You again avow your love for this Creature?" Ardeth asked in a faintly mocking tone. He was well aware of what happened in the Hall of the Scorpion King.

"He is **not** a creature! And yes, I love him!" she said fiercely, putting one hand on Imhotep's arm and brandishing the trident with the other.

"He is the cursed one, and you are equally damned, you murdering viper!" snarled Abasi, no longer able to keep quiet in the face of his ancestral enemies.

"The Hom-Dai is over," Imhotep snapped. "When I succumbed at Ahm Shere--" Anck-su-Namun assumed a pained expression and looked down in shame. "--I was freed from **your** curse. I was reborn here in Luxor, **Thebes**, to live in peace with the woman I love. Can't you leave us be? Have we not all suffered enough?" He drew himself up to his full height and looked as imposing as he could, bereft of his powers.

Abasi put a hand on the handle of the scimitar in his belt. "Pharaoh is the gods' emissary on earth. Your crimes against him have eternal consequences."

"If our crimes are so far-reaching, then why did the gods allow us to pass the test of Anubis' scales?" she challenged. "The gods themselves judged us worthy for further existence. How can you second-guess them?"

Abasi sputtered and Ardeth merely scowled.

"You have nothing to fear from us," Imhotep tried again. "I have no powers in this life. I am mortal."

Abasi fingered the handle of his scimitar, seeming to enjoy the implications of that.

Imhotep continued. "We do not have either of the Books. I have no powers. We have no desire to harm anyone. We wish only to live out our days in peace together with our child." He was doing a remarkable job of reining in his temper.

"Then why," Ardeth asked evenly, "did you attack Pharaoh Seti again this very day?"

"We... I... He..." Imhotep sputtered uselessly.

"I... We... But..." Anck-su-Namun said, not helping at all.

His eyes narrowed in sudden suspicion. "How do you know what happened today?"

"We have our ways," Ardeth said simply.

"Hassim," Imhotep hissed, looking around in vain for his soon-to-be-ex-employee.

"Look," Anck-su-Namun tried again, "we'd be **more** than happy to never see Seti again. We didn't seek him out. If he leaves us alone, we'll leave him alone. And besides, he is no longer Pharaoh. He's a tourist from...I don't know where, for heaven's sake! So what do you care?"

She started to take an angry step forward, but Imhotep held her back. "All we want--all we've **ever** wanted, is to live in peace together."

"And the Army of Anubis?" Abasi sneered.

"Well...okay, so we got a little distracted at one point," he said with an embarrassed cough. "But, really, we are as weary of this fighting as you are. Let us simply live the closest thing to a normal life that is possible for us, all things considered."

Ardeth maintained a wary frown but entered into a hushed conversation with his grandson. None of the desert warriors took their eyes off their ancient enemies for a moment.

Just as they appeared ready to deliver a verdict, a man stumbled into one of the Med-Jai. He had been studying a crumpled map in front of him, mumbling numbers, and wasn't watching where he was going. He reeked "tourist."

"Watch where you're standing!" the interloper snapped, heedless of the scimitars in evidence.

Some hereditary knowledge blossomed in Ardeth's brain, and he recognized the man. The dark looks on Imhotep and Anck-su-Namun's faces confirmed what he instinctively knew. Not even the fresh black eye could disguise him.

"Pharaoh," the Med-Jai chorused reverently, falling to their knees. Ardeth wasn't able to do so, but stooped as low as he could while holding onto his walking stick.

Seti looked around in surprise at the half-dozen men suddenly prostrating themselves in the dust at his feet. "Well, that's more like it!" he said smugly, stuffing the map in his jacket pocket. Then he noticed the only two people not showing him respect.

"Imhotep! Anuck-soon-yamun!"

"Anck-su-Namun!" she corrected testily.

"I've been looking all over for you," Seti yelled. "You hit me!"

"And kicked you," Imhotep added with a small smirk.

"Yes!" He rubbed his sore ribs. "That, too! How **dare** you?"

"We dare because you no longer own me, you bastard!" she snarled.

"Show the proper respect, woman!" Abasi protested.

"I **am**," she said, her voice dripping disdain.

"You!" Seti said, pointing to the Med-Jai. "You're my guards?"

"Indeed, my Pharaoh," Abasi said, touching his forehead to the ground at Seti's sneakers. "And on behalf of all the generations of Med-Jai since you last lived, let me offer our sincere apologies for failing you, your majesty."

Anck-su-Namun rolled her eyes.

"Yes, well..." Seti raised his nose and did his best to look regal. That had never been particularly easy for him, she noted. "I might forgive you if you kill **them** for me." He nodded toward Imhotep and Anck-su-Namun, who instantly assumed defensive poses, each with a trident at the ready.

All the Med-Jai except Ardeth drew their scimitars.

"Mommy! Daddy!"

Everyone turned in surprise as a small girl in a yellow nightgown scampered down the stairs. 

"Jendayi!"

She placed herself between her parents and their assailants, stubbornly planting her feet wide and spreading her arms in the universal "don't take another step" posture. "Don't you hurt my mommy and daddy, you bad men!" she said with all the fierceness a four-year-old could muster.

"Jendayi!" Anck-su-Namun yelped, rushing to pull her daughter out of harm's way. "You're supposed to be in bed!"

"Mommy, who **are** these bad men?"

"Jendayi, honey--" Anck-su-Namun began.

"We are not bad men," Ardeth interrupted. "We are Med-Jai warriors, entrusted with the protection of the Pharaoh, and with the holy mission of saving the world from evil forces." He looked vaguely troubled by her accusation.

"Yes, yes, yes," Seti said impatiently. "Now that we're all acquainted...kill them!"

"But--" Ardeth began.

"Kill them! All three of them! Both of those traitors, and their spawn! Wipe them from the pages of history, once and for all!"

"The girl, too?" Abasi said, blinking uncertainly.

Jendayi began to cry and burrowed into the folds of her father's robes.

"Keep our daughter out of this!" Imhotep said with a dangerous gleam in his eyes.

"Not even the Med-Jai would harm an innocent child," Anck-su-Namun scoffed with far more confidence than she felt, clinging to the girl. 

"Please!" Imhotep tried a different tactic, holding out his hands in an expression of helplessness. "Don't kill our daughter. I have lived before. Kill me, if you must, for your blasted peace of mind, but let her have a chance to live."

Anck-su-Namun paled and squeezed Jendayi closer but did not object to the offer.

"You would do this for her?" Ardeth asked.

"Yes! All I have ever wanted was to live with my Anck-su-Namun, but now there is something I want more...for my child to live. Gods, I know how fleeting and precious life is. But I have lived before, far longer than any mortal. Jendayi has not. I was first born some three thousand years ago, she, but four. Please. She has done nothing against you or any Pharaoh. Let her live."

Anck-su-Namun was trying very hard not to weep. Jendayi was doing enough of it for both of them.

The Med-Jai looked uncertainly from Ardeth to Seti and back again.

"Don't listen to that blasphemer!" Seti boomed. "I am Horus rising, the morning and evening star, the Great House, Pharaoh of Upper and Lower Egypt! I command you to kill those three traitors!"

The Med-Jai did not move.

"But sire, if--" Ardeth began.

"You dare question the word of your Pharaoh?"

Abasi stepped forward. "I don't care who you were in a past life. I'm not killing an innocent child. To do so would defile all the Med-Jai stand for." He ceremonially laid his scimitar on the ground and folded his arms against his black robe. The others followed his lead. Imhotep and Anck-su-Namun watched with wide eyes, hardly daring to believe what they were seeing.

"You impudent curs!" Seti exploded.

Ardeth grasped his wooden staff and stood as tall as he could, radiating command. "We have served your memory faithfully for three thousand years. We have grieved at our failure to protect you. We have sacrificed countless good men in the pursuit of our mission. I personally have stared down a boundless army of Anubis warriors. But what you ask us now is impossible. The Med-Jai are sworn to protect life, to combat evil, and to keep honor on the names of the Pharaohs. To do as you ask now would be to betray all three. We cannot,** will **not do it."

Seti sputtered in inarticulate fury.

Imhotep temporarily left the side of his trembling wife and daughter and strode forward to face the Med-Jai patriarch. They regarded each other silently for a moment. Then, slowly, an expression that was nearly a smile took shape on Imhotep's face. He solemnly held out a hand. Ardeth raised an eyebrow, then put forth a wrinkled hand to shake Imhotep's. His grip was surprisingly strong for one of such advanced age.

"Truce?" Imhotep said.

Ardeth nodded. "May we all find peace at last."

Seti cleared his throat loudly. "Ahem! What about me?"

"What **about** you?" Imhotep said coldly. He returned to his wife's side and embraced her and their child. "You are nothing. Then you were a nothing with a crown. Now you're just plain nothing. Leave us alone."

"Why, you--"

The last tinges of the sunset suddenly increased a thousandfold in a burst of light so intense that the people in the street staggered backward. An overpowering smell of incense hit them, and when they got their senses about them they looked up to see the impossible.

The gods and goddesses were there. Amon-Ra, Osiris, Isis, Horus, Anubis, Thoth, Hathor, Ptah, Sobek, Ma'at, Bes, Bast, Sekhmet, Seth, Ma'at... The figures were larger than life, glowing with white light that made it nearly impossible to look directly at them.

"Enough!" bellowed Amon-Ra. The force of his voice knocked the mortals from their feet. Imhotep instinctively threw his body over that of his wife and child, and Abasi scrambled to cushion his grandfather's fall. "No more!" the king of the Egyptian gods announced. "We grow weary of thy troubles!"

"What our** loud** colleague is trying to say," Bast purred, "is that enough is enough, and we've decided to clear up this mess once and for all."

The mortals just blinked.

Cow-headed Hathor stepped forward from the line of deities. "Anck-su-Namun, my servant." She raised a hand, and the woman in question began levitating in a haze of rose-hued light. "Thou hast been true to me and thy love."

Green-skinned Osiris stepped forward, as well. "Imhotep, my servant." He gestured with his ceremonial crook and flail, and Imhotep also rose into the air, surrounded by green light. "Thou hast kept my name alive through the ages."

Jendayi's tears gave way to giggles. "Daddy! Mommy! You're flying!" She spun in circles and raised her hands toward them, delighted by the spectacle.

Falcon-headed Horus stepped forward and pointed a feathered hand at Ardeth. "Ardeth Bay, thou hast shown exceptional loyalty, bravery and pureness of heart." A nimbus of yellow light surrounded the Med-Jai leader, and as it grew in intensity the years faded away and Ardeth appeared once again as he had in his prime, proud and strong.

Mysterious Seth, his long, floppy ears held high, pointed at the reincarnated Pharaoh. "Seti the First, thou hast been a fitting namesake for me, the god of destruction and disruption." A blaze of fiery red light lifted Seti to the level of the others, high above the street.

Amon-Ra spread his arms to take in the four floating figures. "Thou hast all been true to thine destinies, no matter how difficult it may have been," he announced. "Thine rewards are now due thee." He turned to Imhotep and Anck-su-Namun, and thoughtfully let Jendayi float up to be with them.

"Whee!" the child giggled.

Anck-su-Namun clutched her child close, frightened to see her flying about like a soap bubble. 

"Imhotep. Anck-su-Namun." Amon-Ra slowly brought his hands together until the two were floating in the same cloud of light. "Thou hast adapted admirably to this time, but thine hearts have always belonged to the ancient days." Neither denied it. "Thus we have decided to allow thee and thine children to live out thy days in peace in the time of the Old Kingdom."

"Children?" Anck-su-Namun said numbly, surprised by the plural.

"My child," Hathor said with a beatific smile, "just four days hence the spark of a new life took root in thy womb."

She looked to Imhotep and blushed.

"Thou shalt bear a son," the goddess of love announced happily.

Tears of surprised joy welled up in her eyes. Her reaction was to say something like, "Really?" but it was silly to question a deity. Instead she merely hugged her husband and daughter with renewed vigor.

"And...we are to live in the past?" Imhotep asked.

"Indeed," Amon-Ra continued. "Ye recall the name of the great architect who designed the first pyramid at Saqqara?"

Imhotep nodded and spoke his own name. Amon-Ra merely smiled. "You mean **I**--? I always assumed that was a coincidence!"

Amon-Ra shook his golden head. "Thou shalt do us this last great service, to ensure the glory of Egypt will always be remembered in the world." He stretched out a glowing hand and cast a parchment in Imhotep's direction. He caught it, and found it to be covered in hieroglyphics and diagrams explaining how to build a step pyramid. His eyes widened. So hieroglyphics really were the writing of the gods, after all!

"I--I thank you for the honor, great Amon-Ra!" he stammered.

Seth spoke up. "Seti, thou shalt also be rewarded in a manner appropriate to thine accomplishments."

Seti perked up, expecting a gift of great honor.

"Thou shalt be reincarnated one time more," Seth announced.

"As?" Seti asked eagerly.

"A dung beetle."

"What?"

"A dung beetle. Not a sacred scarab beetle. A regular, run-of-the-mill dung beetle."

"Why?!" Seti yelled. "I thought this was a reward!"

"I said thou wouldst be rewarded in an appropriate manner," Seth said with a twinkle in his eye. "Thou hast been a disgrace to the double crown of Egypt, and must be disgraced in turn."

Imhotep and Anck-su-Namun tried very, very, very hard not to snicker. They failed. The gods forgave them.

Seti tried to protest further, but with a wave of his hand, Seth froze him in place, an enraged statue.

Horus regarded the Med-Jai leader. "Ardeth Bay, thou hast been true to thy heart, thy friends, thy mission and thy heritage. Thine allotted years on this Earth have drawn to a close, and it is time for thee to join us in the Lands of the West."

Ardeth bowed his head before the falcon-headed god. "I have no regrets," he said simply.

"Thou shalt enjoy a position of honor among us for the rest of time."

Hathor went to Anck-su-Namun and Imhotep, enveloping both of them and Jendayi in an embrace that sent warm bliss through their bodies. It was almost as if they had returned to the womb, lulled by a sense of overwhelming love and security. "Find peace at last, my children," she said in her low, silky voice. Before they had a chance to reply, everything faded to black.


	4. Home

Pawns of the GodsChapter 4

Pawns of the Gods  
Chapter 4: Home

Mummy fanfic by Katie Sullivan  


Anck-su-Namun slowly came awake. She was in the most relaxed, contented state she could ever remember being in. The sweet smell of fresh lotus blossoms teased her nose. A soft pillow cradled her cheek, and fine linen sheets lay lightly across the rest of her body. Jayzi was snuggled in her arms, her breath slow and soft in her sleep. Even before she opened her eyes, she felt Imhotep's presence beside her. He, too, appeared to be asleep, with a blissfully peaceful expression on his handsome face. The scroll Amon-Ra had given him was on the bedside table next to a priceless statuette of Hathor. Anck-su-Namun blinked to clear the haze of slumber from her vision and looked around. She and her family were in a large bed made of the finest Egyptian acacia, in a large room furnished with polished marble.

She managed to sit up a little without waking her daughter or husband, and stared around her in wonder. One wall was missing, and through the row of marble columns she could see the Nile flowing past, bordered by thickets of reeds. There was no mistaking the river that was as much a part of her as her own limbs. A fishing boat was drifting by, its nets dipped low in the life-giving waters. There was no outboard motor, no rotating radar antenna on the top...this was all one hundred percent authentic ancient Egyptian.

Her clothes, too, had changed. She wore a gauzy white gown and gold bangles, and as she blinked she realized she had kohl around her eyes.

It was real. She has visited it so many times her dreams, plagued by a homesickness for her own era, devouring books about it and daydreaming, but never imagining she could return to the time period which, even after two reincarnations, she had always considered her own. And yet...the sights, the smells, the feeling...it was real.

Imhotep stirred, and she turned to him with a smile. Just as he opened his eyes, she lightly kissed his forehead. "Wake up, my love. We're here!"

"Hmm?" he said groggily.

"We're here! Our times, again!"

He rubbed at his eyes, smearing the kohl that now lined them, and sat up. He stared around the room in open-mouthed wonder, taking in the furnishings and the riverfront view before stopping to read the hieroglyphics on the marble columns. "Home of Imhotep, Grand Vizier to the Glorious Pharaoh Djoser, Head Architect of the Two Kingdoms, Physician with No Equal, and his wife Anck-su-Namun, Royal Instructor of Dance and Combat...?" He turned to her, his mouth still hanging open. "We...we're here!"

"More than that, my love," she said, leaning close. "We're **home**." They confirmed the marvelous truth with a kiss.

~~The End~~


End file.
